Environmental Trio Of Clear Thinkers

OPINION - DECISION 2004

Our Position: Griffin, Kelly And Parks Have Complementary Skills For Lake Water Authority Seats And Offer A Stream Of Fresh Ideas.

October 17, 2004

Three seats are the subject of a battle between six candidates who all have clear but different ideas about what the Lake County Water Authority should do and how it should spend tax money.

The three who bring the greatest number of unique and valuable skills to the job are longtime environmental activist Ann Wettstein Griffin, former state Rep. Everett Kelly and newcomer Sean Parks, a growth planner.

The water authority at first blush seems like an innocuous little board. But its impact on the quality of the county's lakes and on educating the public about water use and conservation can't be overestimated.

The most difficult choice is between Mrs. Griffin and her opponent, Joe Hill, who both seek the District 1 seat.

Mr. Hill has a long and distinguished record of service on water boards across the state. He is well-respected in Tallahassee, and he delivers results.

Mrs. Griffin, 65, is best known for her relentless questioning of staffers and her refusal to simply accept the status quo. She is an open mind who brings the public to the table, a rare quality in any elected official.

Both Mrs. Griffin and Mr. Hill are incumbents, so it seems odd that they're running against one another.

Mr. Hill, 73, originally planned to run for his own seat, but he later decided that he could not continue to serve on the board with Mrs. Griffin, whose behavior he described as disruptive. So he filed to run for her seat, saying he'd rather not serve than be on the same agency.

Both Mr. Hill and Mrs. Griffin, who lives on Lake Griffin north of Leesburg, have their hearts in the right place. But there are enough conventional "insiders" on the board of the agency, and Mrs. Griffin brings a sense of check-and-balance -- plus an outsider's skeptical outlook -- which Mr. Hill does not. She lists monitoring and finding the cause of toxic algae as her top priority, which is important since the United States recorded its first official death from algae toxins last year.

In the District 5 contest, the Sentinel recommends Mr. Kelly, whose fine environmental record is documented over a long period of years. Though the 78-year-old Lady Lake resident took a break from politics after being defeated in a state Senate race, Mr. Kelly now is seeking a seat on the authority.

Mr. Kelly's main interest is in seeing that the agency continues to help communities pay to retrofit their stormwater-runoff systems so that motor oil and other nasty pollution from streets doesn't end up in the county's lakes, once pristine enough to be considered among the top fishing spots in the nation.

That's a worthy goal. Storm water is a major polluter of the lakes, and getting the systems in shape is enormously expensive -- but worth it. Mr. Kelly recognizes that this won't happen instantly, but he is willing to invest the time and money to make it happen.

His opponent, Richard Royal, a chemical salesman and crop adviser, lists as his top priority extracting noxious weeds and dredging canals. The 44-year-old Umatilla resident correctly points out that the authority's method of weed disposal -- spraying -- allows rotting material to foul the lakes. While he has some good ideas, they shouldn't be the agency's top priority. The mission of the water authority is preservation and conservation, not ensuring access and smooth sailing for residents fortunate enough to own watercraft.

Voters cannot lose in the at-large race between Mr. Parks and his opponent, Linda Kay Bystrak, 56, a retired teacher of biology and chemistry.

While Ms. Bystrak, who taught in Michigan and Maryland, understands the technicalities of water issues, Mr. Parks has a rare quality that almost no other elected official in Lake County has: vision.

The most important issue for the 33-year-old south Lake father of a toddler is getting people to understand the link between growth and water resources. Mr. Parks, who works for a planning firm in Orlando, thinks the water authority should take a leading role in bringing that link forward at every planning and zoning and land-planning agency meeting. So far, he said, the twin issues of growth and water resources have taken a back seat to school overcrowding.

Mr. Parks wants to see the agency continue its program of educating Lake's schoolchildren about water and conservation. He astutely points out that it will take an entire generation of educating students to produce citizens who truly understand the critical and delicate nature of Florida's water supply.

He wants to aggressively promote eco-tourism in Lake and thinks the water authority should take the lead to stimulate economic growth through grants and concessions to those who would open businesses that attract tourists to enjoy Lake's natural resources. It's a matter of the county backing up its wishes and its talk with cash.

For their differing but equally valuable skills and vision, the Orlando Sentinel recommends Ann Wettstein Griffin, Everett Kelly and Sean Parks for the Lake County Water Authority.